Milking apparatus



June 1954 T. w. MERRlT-T ETAL 5 MILKING APPARATUS Original Filed June 2, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 8, 1954 T. w. MERRITT ETAL MILKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed June 2, 1951 lhtj we 0% .M w TW milk gathering chamber of -illustrated here the milking "drop system,

*ence -may be had, -for "Reissue 22,368 'and-Babson 2,477,035 to supple- "ment the presentdisclosure with respect-to the general features of such milking Patented June 8, 1954 FFI CE 2,680,452 MILKING APPARATUS Thomas V W. Merritt, St. Thomas, Lake Forest,

Charles, and IlL, 00., a corporation of Illinois -Original application June 2, .1951, Serial ivided and th Chester "A. assignors to 'Babson islapplication February :9, 1952, SeriaiNo. 270,848

2 Claims. (01. 137 399) Other'an'd further features will be readily ap- ...parent from the following 'disclosure'and-draw- .:ings,:in 'which:

.bodying: the improvements Fig. 2: is a sectional vertical view through the the invention; Fig. "3iis ahorizontal section partially broken away taken along line 3-"3 of Fig. 2;

,"Fig. 1'4'is a-"view showing the *valve mechanism illustrated 'at'thebottom of I Fig."2"but ina dif- "ferent'position;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of the milk chamber'portion of Figfl showingasecond method of connecting I the chamber.

In the particular embodiment of: the invention parlors and stalls. lnzsu'chmilking parlors the-"cows, after any desired preliminary 'washing'of the udder or '2 other preparation, are admitted to a stalL'as for example the stall shown in Fig. 1 which includes the vertical uprights l0 and I I, the overhead and the side hori- It-wi1l ment for tion.

' The cow stands ona floor 15 which would be at some suitable highenlevel (for example, 2

feet) above'an cperators "fioor'oralley l6. A

H? extends between the two floor levels.

The milking apparatus in Whichthe present inventionis particularlyadapted foruse'and the and to theBabsonxapplication '17l',380ifiled June 30, 1950, now PatentIN0.:2,613,636 datediOctober 14, 1352.

relative movement generally cylindrical body adapted to receive the teat being milked and usually comprising an integral short milk tube extending therefrom and forming a part of the milk passageway delivering milk on through various supplemental parts of the passageway to the desired ultimate destination point. Such teat cup assemblies and inflations are well known and have been long used in the field, and it is felt that further description is unnecessary here. The four teat cup assemblies may be connected together in any desired manner to deliver milk to a single flow passageway and the cup assemblies are here shown as having their milk tubes connected to nipples on a lid 19, this lid forming the top of a milk receiving chamber of substantial size, the remainder of the chamber being provided by a bowl shaped element 23. The lid carries, suitably mounted thereon, a pulsator 21 of a well known type conventional in the field to which vacuum is applied by means of a flexible hose connection 22 connected into a common vacuum line 23 which extends alongside of the milking parlor. The entire bowl assembly is supported by an apparatus including a pair of pivotally interconnected arms 24 and 25 supported on a vertical adjustable post 26.

The particular adjustable supporting arrangement is of a type more fully shown and described in Babson et al. Reissue Patent No. 22,368. The post 26 may be vertically adjusted to any desired position by telescopic movement within a tube 21 in turn suitably mounted on the wall 11 and between the post 28 and tube 21 may be achieved through a rack and gear arrangement operated by the handle 28. A spring 23 encircles the post 26 and has one end bearing against a collar 30 fixed to the post and has its other end bearing against a sleeve member 3| slidable on the rod and supporting the pivotal arm arrangement 24 and 25. Apthe height of the supand forward interteat during milking the mittent tug and pull on the with the intermittent effect being due to pulsator action.

Milk drawn into the bowl 23 is drawn therefrom through a flexible hose connection 32 into a chamber generally designated 33 wherein it is retained until the milking is completed.

As best shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the chamber 33 comprises a cylindrical member 34 preferably made of transparent plastic material and provided with graduations 35. The member 3A is closed at its top by a removable metal domed closure member 33 and at its bottom by a conical closure member 31. Each of the closure members 35 and 31 are provided with turned flanges 38 and 39 respectively about their outer peripheries to form a seat for the ends of the cylindrical member 34 and in which are provided annular resilient sealing members M and M to provide a fluid tight connection between the end closures and the cylindrical member 34. The upper closure 38 is provided with three outstanding ears or lugs 42 adapted to be aligned with corresponding lugs 43 on the lower closure with all of the lugs being provided with apertures through which rods 44 extend to secure the end closures in place in fluid-tight relation ship with the ends of the cylindrical member. Preferably the lower ends of the rods are secured in the lugs 43 while the upper ends are secured to the lugs 42 by the bolts 45 as shown. By loosening the bolts the end closures may be the top removed and the entire apparatus comprising the chamber may be cleaned with ease.

Formed in the upper closure 36 and communicating with the chamber 33 is a first passageway provided with a coupling member 5| to which one end of the flexible tube 32 is secured.

The chamber is provided with a second passageway in the form of a pipe 53 which extends vertically through the lower end closure 31 and is provided with an open end 54 located in the chamber 33 above the highest liquid level in the chamber. It will be understood, of course, that the chamber is designed to have a volumetric capacity of the order of the amount of milk expected to be delivered by any one cow and the second passageway, opening to the chamber near thereof, is so constructed that, for an average normal volume of the milk delivered by a cow, its open end 54 will be above the level of milk in the chamber.

The chamber is third passageway 55 lower end closure 31 member provided at the bottom of the chamber. The valve member may take several forms and may be provided with means for withdrawing samples of milk from the chamber as will be hereinafter described. As shown in Fig. 2, a valve device 56 is provided for applying vacuum to the chamber to draw milk thereinto or to withdraw milk therefrom.

The valve member 53 shown i detail in Figs. 2 and 4 comprises a cylindrical casing 51 a cylindrical bore 58 therein in which there is rotatably positioned a core member '53 provided with a first passage 60 extending diametrically passage 61 extending from the outer surface of the core member and connected at the center of the core member with the passage 60. The core also provided with a vent opening 52 which opens to the atmosphere through the end closures (not shown) of the valve member. The valve member connects by means of a port 63 to a flexible tube 64 adapted to be connected to a source of vacuum.

The entire chamber 33 including the valve suspended in vertical position by the hanging means 65 which is secured to a metal loop 66 flxed to the upper end closure 36, or, if it is desired to weigh the milk delivered. the chamber and attendant apparatus may be suspended from a scale 61 as shown in Fig.

Referring to one mode of employing the ratus of this invention as the tubing 64 is connected to a milk through the top or lid also connected by means of the to the vacuum line 23 through the valve device 13. As shown in this form of installation, the milk is delivered finally to the milk can 10, as desired.

In the particular mode of using the device illustrated in Fig. 5, the chamber 33 is, through the flexible line 38, connected directly into vacuum delivery line 23, so that when the chamber is emptied, the milk flows into the line 23 for delivery to pasteurizing tanks, storage tanks and the like. Where the apparatus is used in the mode illustrated in Fig. 5, it is preferable to provide a second vacuum line line 22 to the pulsator is connected in order to maintain at all times the proper vacuum to the milk withdrawing apparatus to guard against contamination in the pulsator line through overflow of the milk. Thus any overflow of milk located at the apex of the goes only into the milk line and not into the vacuum pulsator line. With either mode used, the operation of the apparatus of this invention is substantially identical.

In operating the device of this invention, the

milk withdrawing foreign matter, such as dirt, blood and the like, which may have inadvertently become mixed with the milk.

55 and seals off the vacuum line from the interior of the container.

Milk, as it is withdrawn from the chamber, has a tendency to vortex and the ball float 16 under Apparatus of the character described in- 1 eluding a oh the outlet b efore to the bottom closure outlet, said member substantially all of the milk is withdrawn.

ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Hapgood Sept. 4, 1934 Corderoy Nov. 19, 1935 Davis, Jr. Dec. 8, 1936 

